In society, when a loved one dies the death is typically a very emotional distressing event that individuals encounter. Death is particularly more heartbreaking when the loved one is a parent. On the other hand, in The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault, the main protagonist, has indifferent emotions to his mother’s recent death; therefore, the death does not phase him as being a mournful loss. As well as his indifferent emotions in relationships and to the tragic loss of his mother, Meursault also has no reasoning or logic behind his actions. Both of these differences cause an even greater alienation from society. Overall, society judges Meursault due to his alienation and demonstrates the emotional values and expectations of society. Despite societal efforts to …show more content…
try and place emotions and reason onto individuals representing society's expectations and values, the individual continues to stay alienated due to his/her indifferent values and personality.
The reader is first introduced to Meursault when he states, “Maman died today or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. I got a telegram from the home: ‘Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.’ That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday” (3). As this quote is the opening line of the book, Camus is able to show an important trait of Meursault: his emotional indifference. Meursault mentions the death of his mother; however, he is more focused on remembering if Maman died “today or yesterday”. Meursault receives the news about the death of his mother and shows no emotion regarding the loss. Camus uses Meursault’s emotionless attitude towards losing someone as the first lines of the book in order to demonstrate to the reader a main characteristic of Meursault.. Instead of stating that he is saddened by the loss of his mother, he portrays his indifference of emotions when he is distracted and focusing on the details of when Maman died. Through this emotional indifference, Meursault alienates himself from society due to his lack of emotions that is a societal expectation. When society recognizes Meursault’s alienation, the individuals in the courtroom try and put reasoning and
misunderstandings behind Meursault's indifference of emotion; however, the individuals eventually learn that Meursault truly does not fit in with society's expectations and moral values. Investigations into Meursault’s personal life had been completed, so when the lawyer found out that Maman had died recently the lawyer began to question Meursault about her death and his emotions. When the lawyer found out about Meursault’s lack of emotions “He asked [Meursault] if he could say that that day [he] had held back [his] natural feelings. [Meursault] said, ‘No, because it’s not true.’ [The lawyer gave Meursault] a strange look, as if he found [Meursault] slightly disgusting” (65). By questioning Meursault's lack of emotion, it is evident that a societal expectation is that individuals are emotionally distressed when they lose a loved one. While at court, the individuals in the courtroom try and assume that Meursault’s lack of emotion was because he was holding it back. They assume that no individual can have no emotion without reasoning. By providing a questioning Meursault, the lawyer is able to recognize that there is no rational reason to why Meursault has no emotions it is exclusively that he just does not conform to society's expectations and has indifferent emotions. By trying to apply rational reasoning that behind Meursault’s difference of emotion Camus is able to reveal society's expectations that Meursault should have been mourning the loss of his mother when attending her funeral. Despite his alienations, society still expects him to follow the moral values every other individual has. When the lawyer says he was “slightly disgusted” the word choice reveals the emotions he has when hearing from Meursault that he truly had no emotions during Mamans funeral. The negative connotation of the phrase demonstrates how much society expects individuals to feel emotionally distraught. Through Meursault’s alienation from society due to his lack of emotions, it is evident the individuals in the courtroom are disturbed by his response and value human emotions. When Meursault does not show any grief or denial about the news, Camus shows how Meursault's emotions are indifferent when compared to societal expectations and morals since society assumes that individuals mourn the loss of loved ones and portray the grief and sadness they experience due to the event. Meursault goes against these expectations and morals by showing the death has no major impact on his emotions.
The Stranger by Albert Camus is a story of a sequence of events in one man's life that cause him to question the nature of the universe and his position in it. The book is written in two parts and each part seems to reflect in large degree the actions occurring in the other. There are curious parallels throughout the two parts that seem to indicate the emotional state of Meursault, the protagonist, and his view of the world.
...iod when Camus writes this novel. Camus obviously knew the time period and explored different ideas and philosophies about pointless of life in people which comes out in his character, Meursault. In prison Meursualt also realizes that he’s trapped, and there’s no way out as he remembers what the nurse once said to him. His growth in self reflection results in unimportance of emotional values of life and help focus what’s directly ahead of him. This significant change results him in understanding himself and his voice, and figuring out his capabilities and philosophies. Time spent in prison helps Meursault finally understands himself, the meaninglessness of life, and the unimportance of time which shows the shift in the character after sent to prison.
In the experimental novel The Stranger by Albert Camus, he explores the concept of existentialism and the idea that humans are born into nothing and descend into nothingness after death. The novel takes place in the French colony of Algiers where the French-Algerians working-class colonists live in an urban setting where simple life pleasures are of the upmost importance in the lives of working class people like the protagonist of the novel Meursault. What is fascinating about this novel is that it opens up with a scene of perpetual misfortune for him through the death of his mother although he seems to express otherwise. The reader perceives this nonchalance as a lack of care. Maman’s death and its impact on Meursault appear in both the very beginning and very end of the two-part novel, suggesting a cyclical pattern in the structure. This cyclical pattern suggests not a change in the moral beliefs of Meursault but rather his registering society’s systems and beliefs and craft meaning in his own life despite the fact that he meets his demise in the end. Camus uses Maman’s funeral to characterise both Meursault and the society and customs created by the society Meursault lives in in order to contrast the two while at the same time reveal how while society changes, Meursault does not. Rather, Maman’s funeral becomes of unprecedented importance in Meursault’s life and allows him to find that nothing means anything in his meaningless world at the time of his death. He finds peace in that.
Meursault shows very little love or sorrow at the fact of his mother's death. A normal man would feel pain and regret for not being by her side while Meursault does not even care much about the date she passed away. Immediately on the first page in the novel, we confront the situation where Meursault's mother dies, and he does not care about it. "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know. I got a telegram from the home: `Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.' That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday" (3). Meursault does not bother to call back and find information about his mother. Meursault shows no emotion or care for his mother because he sends her away for someone else to take care of her. During the last years of an elder person's life, they are invited to stay with the family in order to become closer with one another. Meursault could care less as he shows no sign of pain, and goes off to do something else. He resembles a figure where an issue as important as death does come as a priority. "We are the hollow men/ We are the stuffed men/ Leaning together/ Headpiece filled with straw" (Lines 1-4).
In many works of literature, a character conquers great obstacles to achieve a worthy goal. Sometimes the obstacles are personal impediments, at other times it consists of the attitude and beliefs of others. In the book The Stranger by Albert Camus, shows the character Meursault who is an emotionless character that let’s other people show their opinions and emotions into him, giving him a type of feeling even if Meursault doesn’t care. Meursault is a victim of emotional indifference between his friends and social indifference. This essay will be about the character’s struggle that contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
The emotionless anti-hero, Monsieur Meursault, embarks on a distinct philosophical journey through The Stranger. Confident in his ideas about the world, Meursault is an unemotional protagonist who survives without expectations or even aspirations. Because of his constant indifference and lack of opinions about the world, it can be denoted that he undergoes a psychological detachment from the world and society. It is through these characteristics that exist in Meursault that Camus expresses the absurd. Starting from the very first sentence of the book, “Maman died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know.” (Camus 1) The indifferent tone from these short sentences convey a rather apathetic attitude from Meursault’s part. Not only does he not feel any sorrow, he also “felt like having a smoke.” (Camus 4) Communicating perfectly Meursault’s disinterest, “[he] hesitate, [he] didn’t know if [he] could do it with Maman right there. [He] thought it over; it really didn’t matter.” (Camus 4) The death of his mother prompts an absurdist philosophy in which he experiences a psychological awakening and begins to place no real emphasis on emotions, but rather on the physical aspect of life.
...he world, which causes him to encounter a form of enlightenment that makes him come to realization of the true world. The realization of the world sprouts the idea that the universe is indifferent and life has no true meaning. Because Meursault realizes that the universe is indifferent to people and that he makes no importance to the world, he is reborn to a life that makes sense to him. The nonexistent emotions from the first part and the outburst of emotions from the second part cause a juxtaposition of Meursault as a character in the two sections. Camus uses elemental diction and sentence structure to portray this change in character and his acceptance of the universe around him. He accepts his death, finding that his life is truly meaningless, and believes that his life is a model for the philosophical ideas that he has come in terms with.
Use of Stylistic Devices in The Stranger & nbsp; In his novel The Stranger, Albert Camus uses the stylistic devices of imagery and diction to develop the intensity of the physical action and to illustrate the lack of emotion in the last paragraph of Part I. Imagery of all kinds is abundant in this passage as Meursault, the main character, pays great attention to and describes in detail the beach environment that surrounds him. Visual imagery is present as he conveys the intense heat by telling how it seemed as though the sky had cracked open and was raining flame, and by personifying the ocean, recounting how it breathed blistering hot air onto the beach. Auditory imagery is employed when Meursault speaks of the cymbals of the sun clashing and describes the four shots fired as “four quick knocks on the door of unhappiness.” Imagery of a tactile nature is used in Meursault’s depicting the effects of the light reflecting off of the Arab’s knife on him, its “searing” his eyelashes and “gouging” his eyeballs.
Camus’s absurd philosophy asserts that the events of the world have no rational order or visible meaning. The story of the returning son murdered by his mother and sister is a perfect example of what he is trying to show us in The Stranger. There is no reason for the son to have died. His terrible, ironic fate is not compatible with any logical or ordered system governing human existence. Like Meursault’s killing of the Arab, the son’s death is a purposeless, meaningless tragedy that defies rationalization or justification. Now because of the murder Meursault is put on trial the following summer and while he is on trial, Meursault comes to understand that his failure to interpret or find meaning in his own life has left him vulnerable to others, who will impose such meaning for him. Until this point, Meursault has unthinkingly drifted from moment to moment, lacking the motivation or ability to examine his life as a narrative with a past, present, and
Often times an author incorporates a thought or philosophy into a work that can shape or reshape the attitude emitted from the novel. In Albert Camus', The Stranger, the Existential philosophy that the author fills into the work give an aura of apathy. With the opening lines of "Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure," Camus immediately sets a tone of indifference (1). Though the protagonist, Mersault, is not completely without cares, the overall attitude of passiveness he has toward himself, as well as toward others, give the entire novel a tone of apathy.
Albert Camus states that “In our society any man who doesn’t cry at his mother’s funeral is liable to be condemned to death” (Camus, 18). In the book The Outsider, Meursault defies local convention by not showing the sadness that is expected of him at his mother’s funeral. Ultimately, his life is dependant on this very decision of whether or not to show emotion. In the society that Meursault lives in, one is expected to conform to their standards and social norms. Anyone who deviates from these norms is considered an outcast and destined to die at the hands of society. Meursault was expected to show outwards signs of grief whether it was real or not. Even if the grief is artificial, most people will play to the audience and show signs of grief to minimize the risk of losing their life. Meursault’s was conflicted between following society’s rules and being true to himself. The nurse at his mother's funeral warned him that “if yougo slowly, you risk getting sun-stroke. But if you go too fast, you perspire and then in the church you catch a chill. She was right. There was no way out” (Camus, 22). The nurse’s admonition is consistent with his internal struggle. To Meursault, walking too fast is similar to conforming to society and walking too slow means following his own path. There is no middle ground to the situation, no happy median and no suitable compromise. Meursault faces the challenge of whether or not to conform on three main levels; physical, emotional and spiritual. He has the constant battle between following his physical self; his id, and doing what is right. Meursault also has to decide whether or not to be true to his emotions and decide if lying during his trial is a suitable course of action. Finally h...
The Outsider, written by Albert Camus, and The Trial, written by Franz Kafka, are two books that have been critically acclaimed since the time that they were published. There are critics that claim that The Outsider is a dull book, and is not even a read-worthy book. Other people claim that it shows us how society actually acts upon people who do not want to be like the rest of society. The Trial falls under the same kind of criticism; but both books, although written by different writers in a different époque, fall under the same kind of genre: Imprisoned Lives. In both The Outsider and The Trial there are many people who influence the protagonists in a positive and in a negative way, but none of those characters are as important as the priest. The priest, being of the same profession in both books and trying to accomplish the same kind of tasks, have a totally different effect on the two protagonists. In The Outsider the priest changes the whole attitude that Meursault has to life, whereas in The Trial the priest tells Joseph K. how his life actually is.
At his mother’s funeral it is stated “…he also wanted to know Maman’s age. I said, “About sixty…”" (Camus 25) which shows he does not know much about his own mother. Also the apathetic nature of Camus’ statement clearly demonstrates his lack of care towards his mother. The first line of the book is “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know” (3). This exemplifies his blatant lack of interest in his family. After a tragic loss, society expects people to have a great concern in their loss. During the time of Maman’s funeral, Meursault shows no concern towards his mother’s death; he brushes it off to the side as it is of little importance to him. At the funeral, Maman’s friends from her home mourn her greatly. They all show that she was a very important person to them and that they loved her immensely. However, her son shows no sign of mourning. Instead, he finds the mourners to be irritating. This is seen when Meursault thought “I wished I didn’t have to listen to her anymore,” (10) about one of the mourners who was Maman’s close friend. Camus uses an existentialist concept of Meursault having no value in Maman, and therefore he cannot see how anyone could have despair over
Towards the beginning, Camus introduces the absence of family, thereby beginning the character development of the protagonists in their respective novels. In The Stranger, Camus begins the novel with “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know” (Camus 3). This is the first instance that the reader is being introduced to Meursault, the main character of the novel. The reader learns that Maman, Meursault’s mother, is the only family member that Meursault has in the entire novel. Furthermore, Camus uses Meursault’s response to this tragedy not only to get the reader a first glimpse of the protagonist, but as a way to introduce the topic of absurdism that the novel is building up towards. As the funeral proceedings continue, Meursault feels like smoking, but is first hesitant in doing so because he “didn’t know if [he] could do it with Maman right there” (Camus 8). However, Meursault soon follows this up with “I thought about it; it didn’t matter. I offered the caretaker a cigarette and we smoked” (Camus 8). This at first shows us a sense of hesitancy as he pauses for a moment to think whether what he is doing is acceptable. Howeve...
Camus writes in a simple, direct, and uncomplicated style. The choice of language serves well to convey the thoughts of Meursault. The story is told in the first person and traces the development of the narrator's attitude toward himself and the rest of the world. Through this sort of simple grammatical structure, Camus gives the reader the opportunity to become part of the awareness of Meursault. In Part I, what Meursault decides to mention are just concrete facts. He describes objects and people, but makes no attempt to analyze them. Since he makes no effort to analyze things around him, that job is given to the reader. The reader therefore creates his own meaning for Meursault's actions. When he is forced to confront his past and reflect on his experiences, he attempts to understand the reasons for existence. At first, Meursault makes references to his inability to understand what's happening around him, but often what he tells us seems the result of his own indifference or detachment. He is frequently inattentive to his surroundings. His mind wanders in the middle of conversations. Rarely does he make judgments or express opinions about what he or other characters are doing. Meursault walks through life largely unaware of the effect of his actions on others.